


Come Dance With Me

by winnerstick



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, M/M, dance instructor! magnus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-15
Updated: 2016-05-15
Packaged: 2018-06-08 16:24:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6862933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winnerstick/pseuds/winnerstick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alec is a really bad dancer taking group dancing lessons for Izzy and Clary's wedding. Magnus is the dance instructor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Come Dance With Me

“You’re stepping on my foot. Again, Alec!”

“Sorry, sorry.” He took a step back, only to find him a bit too far away and off beat again. He really couldn’t win, and the look on Jace’s face implied that he agreed.

Honestly, it was a waste of time and money, them all taking dance classes. It wasn’t like anyone except for Izzy and Clary were going to have to dance at their wedding, so Alec didn’t see the point in him being part of all this. But it had been important to Izzy, and Alec couldn’t really turn Izzy down, so here he was. Alternating between pissing off all his friends at once and having them laugh at the fact that he really does have two left feet. Which he tried to tell them, but no one would listen.

And it didn’t help that he definitely had the attention of the dance instructor.

Magnus Bane was an old family friend of Clary and Jocelyn’s, so he had agreed to teach all of them at a cheaper rate. A cheaper rate was still really fucking expensive, in Alec’s mind, but he went along with it anyway. The man clearly was a very skilled dancer, and he had shown off for them a few times at the beginning of the classes, just to show them what they were supposed to look like. It was of some comfort to Alec that no one except Izzy and Clary—who, honestly, would look good together no matter what their feet were doing—were standing up to Magnus’s example, but everyone got significantly worse when Alec was their partner.

The main problem here was that Magnus was very clearly hitting on Alec at every chance he got—even Alec was picking up on it, but the sniggers and glances his way didn’t help—and Alec couldn’t help but watch Magnus as well. Which meant that Alec was well aware of how often he caught Magnus staring at him and his terrible dancing. Which usually made him get worse. Which usually resulted in Jace or Simon or Lydia getting their foot stomped on. Oops.

“Mind if I cut in?” a voice asked, and Alec’s heart almost stopped. Magnus must have seen how particularly awful Alec was today and felt he needed to intervene. Fuck.

“Please,” Jace answered emphatically, ignoring the pleading look Alec was giving him, the traitor. “Help him out while I go find a candidate for a foot transplant.”

And with that, Jace leaves, limping for effect, and Magnus held out his hand to Alec. Alec stared at it for a moment, almost weary that it was going to bite him, before he took it, and allowed Magnus to move Alec where he wanted.

“I’ll lead first, then we’ll switch.” Alec nodded, and they began.

Somehow, this was worse. With Jace, at least, Alec wasn’t quite so fucking embarrassed. But having Magnus’s arms around him as he spun Alec around the room was a little disorienting. He didn’t step on Magnus’s feet, but he definitely got close. He also definitely tripped himself a few times. After a little bit, even Magnus had to stop.

“Alexander,” Magnus said, and Alec had to look up from his insistent gaze on their feet, almost thinking he was in trouble. Instead he was met with an easy smile, almost as if Magnus hadn’t been part of the shitshow Alec put on the last minute. “Relax, okay? Just follow my lead. You’re second guessing yourself and thinking too much when you need to just let the music guide you. Stop thinking.”

And, okay, fuck, why was this so much easier now? How could Magnus make this all seem to simple and second nature? Alec was trying to keep up, pay attention to the steps, but he could only be vaguely aware of what their feet were doing as Magnus led him across the floor. He still hadn’t stepped on Magnus’s foot once, and he was going significantly faster than Jace had been going, so somewhere there was a disconnect. Maybe the disconnect was that Magnus actually knew what he was doing, and Jace only liked to pretend like he did. Alec, at least, knew that he was fucking clueless. But he followed Magnus’s advice, stopped thinking, and just let himself be led.

Dancing with Magnus, honestly, just felt so natural. Alec’s issues with his body going the wrong way or too far or not far enough all went away. He had no idea what they looked like, but he felt spectacular. If dancing could be like this always, then he could be okay with that.

“Alexander, look up,” Magnus hummed, and Alec wouldn’t have heard him if they weren’t so close together. 

He had been staring at the floor, trying to keep up with what their feet were doing, and make sure he didn’t step on Magnus or trip over himself, but at Magnus’s word he looked up. Only to be met with Magnus’s gaze. He felt the flush creeping up his neck onto his face and glanced back down for a moment to reorient himself, then looked back up again. Shockingly, even holding eye contact with Magnus didn’t hinder his suddenly-impressive performance; he just kept moving along with Magnus as if his heart wasn’t trying to beat its way out of his chest.

“Your turn,” Magnus said, switching his hand position on Alec fluidly. “Now you lead.”

Alec faltered at that. Surely Magnus couldn’t be serious, and yet, he was. They stopped for a moment, since Alec didn’t do anything, but that kind smile stayed on Magnus’s face all throughout Alec stiltedly starting to lead them. It wasn’t amazing, by any measure. It didn’t feel quite as good or as natural as it had when Magnus was leading, but it was better. Alec’s face had turned back down, staring at their feet again, and he was going slower than Magnus had, but mostly it was going alright. Alec led, and Magnus followed, and nothing too terrible happened.

The song ended and Alec almost stopped, stuttering his steps, but another song played after it and Magnus continued to move with Alec. Magnus’s fingers tipped Alec’s chin back up so they were staring at each other again, and suddenly the world was gone. Alec kept going, only second guessing himself twice, and it was far easier to get lost in Magnus’s eyes that their foot movements. Alec barely registered the song ending into silence, until Magnus pulled away.

“Great job, everyone. I’ll see you next week?” Magnus announced to the class.

Alec glanced around and noticed that everyone had been turned towards them, even before Magnus made the speech. Somehow, the proud smile Izzy was sending his way was way worse than his initial embarrassment at dancing with Magnus and Alec felt like he could die on the spot, so he looked away, back to his things, and started packing up.

He was almost done stuffing his dress shoes—which Magnus and Izzy had insisted everyone dance in, to break them in and so they could get a feel for what it would really be like—back into his bag when he felt eyes on him. Alec turned around, and there Magnus was, and for the first time Alec noticed just how far away he was from everyone else. Everyone was still in the room, but for all intents and purposes, he and Magnus had almost complete privacy.

“You greatly improved today, Alexander,” Magnus complimented, and Alec flushed again. “I can’t wait to see how you do at the actual wedding.”

Alec let out a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well, I, uh. I doubt I’ll be doing much dancing. I’m just doing this ‘cause Izzy wanted us all to. Bonding activity, I guess.”

“Promise you’ll save me one?”

Alec opened his mouth to respond, but his voice faltered, almost as if the line had been cut. Which was probably for the best, because all that was in his head was sirens. Did Magnus actually mean that? He actually wanted to dance with Alec at the wedding.

“I. I, uh. I should really. Um.” Fuck. He couldn’t even get a sentence out.

“Get going, of course,” Magnus replied with a knowing smile. “I look forward to next week. And that dance.”

**Author's Note:**

> hey follow me on tumblr izziefray.tumblr.com <3


End file.
